Entangled

Chapter 16

Another thousand years passed as Adrian raced from the ballroom to the corridor, then down the stairs and through the kitchens to the stables.

By the time he pushed the stable door open and stormed inside, his lungs were heaving and his heart was throbbing with hope, fear, anger, tenderness, and thwarted desire.

Because love was all of things at once and more, all snarled tightly together inside him, just waiting for the one person who could tear it apart and launch it springing like a wild thing from his chest.

“Helena!”

In that moment of madness, nothing could keep him from flying to her, dropping to his knees and begging her not to leave him.

Nothing, that is, but what he found.

Helene was hunched over the side of Hecate’s pen, but she whirled around when the stable door slammed open, and he stopped in his tracks, his heart plummeting as if it had turned to stone in his chest. Her face was red and blotchy, and she was struggling for breath, her eyes were streaming with tears.

“Helena? Dear God, what is it? What’s the matter?”

“It’s Hecate! The kittens are…oh, there are so many of them, Adrian! Eight at last count, and…” She went on, but between her hiccups and gasps and sobs he couldn’t make sense of what she was saying.

“Helena, listen to me. It’s alright, sweetheart.” He dropped down into the hay beside her and stroked soothing circles over her back. “Take a deep breath. Yes, that’s it. Now, tell me again what’s happening.”

“I—I thought she’d had all her kittens and was resting, but then she started trying to push again, but she’s been pushing for a long time without a kitten coming, and now she’s gone very still.

” She turned big, watery blue gray eyes on him.

“There’s a kitten lodged in the birth canal, but she’s too exhausted to push anymore. ”

He glanced into the pen. Eight damp puffs of ginger fur with tiny pink paws were crawling on top of each other in the hay, and beside them was Hecate, lying on her side, her eyes closed and her rib cage jerking with quick, panting breaths. “How long has she been like this?”

“An hour? Perhaps longer. I thought of coming to fetch you, but I didn’t like to leave her, and I didn’t want to drag you away from the ball—”

“The ball doesn’t matter, Helena. Don’t you understand? Nothing matters to me but you and Ryan and Etienne, and at the moment, Hecate.” His boys were not going to wake up on Christmas morning to find their beloved pet had died.

It simply wasn’t going to happen.

“Right, then.” He tore off his evening jacket and handed it to her. “Here, tuck this around the kittens,” he said, silently bidding goodbye to another Weston coat. But it was cold, and Hecate was in no state to care for her kittens yet.

He hopped over the side of the pen, knelt in the hay near Hecate’s back end, and lifted her tail. “I beg your pardon, Hecate, but I assure you this is as uncomfortable for me as it is for you.”

Helena tucked the coat around the squirming kittens nestled in the hay then leaned closer, her fingers clutching the edge of the pen. “Can you see anything?”

“Yes. A leg, and the back end of a, er…” Well, there was really no other way to put it. “A slimy creature I can only assume is a kitten. I don’t know much about kitten births, but I suspect I shouldn’t be seeing its leg.”

“No. It’s coming out backwards. I’ve read a bit about this. Hecate won’t be able to push it out on her own.” Helena’s steady gaze met his, her early distress giving way to determination. “There is a way for us to help her, but it’s a bit tricky.”

“Tricky or not, I don’t see that we have much choice.”

She tried to peek around him. “I can’t see much. Your shoulders are in my way.”

“I beg your pardon, but there’s nothing to see at present but a leg protruding from Hecate’s…that is, from Hecate. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

“Yes, alright. You’ll need a steady grip on the kitten’s leg and as much of the torso as you can reach, but be gentle. Don’t squeeze, but hold firmly.”

“That sounds easier than it is. She’s a bit slippery, I’m afraid.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “How do you know it’s a she?”

He gave her a quick grin. “Who else but a female kitten would cause such a lot of fuss and bother? There, I’ve got her. Do I just pull her out?”

“No! Don’t pull. You’re going to ease her out by rocking her gently from side to side, but you have to wait until Hecate pushes again.” Helena stroked her hand over Hecate’s head. “I know you’re tired, poor thing, but we’re not quite finished yet. Come now, Hecate, another push, if you please.”

Hecate only spoke cat, of course, so there wasn’t any chance she understood these instructions, but damned if she didn’t do just as Helena bid her, and gave a weak little push. He peeked under her tail. “Another leg has popped out. Well done, Hecate!”

“That’s it, Hecate. Good girl!”

“Surely, the legs are the worst bit? It should be easy enough from here, yes?”

“Er, no, my lord. You’ve forgotten that the head still has to come out.”

The head, yes, and it was rather a bulbous appendage, unfortunately.

“Another push, Hecate,” Helena crooned. “Come now, you can do it.”

Hecate responded to this plea by giving another push, this one a bit harder than the last. Adrian rocked the kitten from side to side as Helena had instructed, another few inches of the torso emerged. “This kitten looks to be a bit bigger than the others.”

“How much of her is out now?”

“There’s perhaps a bit more of the torso still to come, then the front paws, shoulders and head.” Good God, there was quite a bit of kitten still to go, and Hecate’s breathing was becoming more labored.

“She’s exhausted, Adrian. I don’t think she’s got many pushes left in her. We’ll have to have the kitten out with the next one. Did you hear that, Hecate? Just one more push, and then it will be all over, and you can see to your nine beautiful kittens. One more push, Hecate, and that’s all.”

But this time Hecate didn’t respond with a push. Her breathing had become more erratic, and she let her head drop down flat against the stable floor.

“Oh, no, Adrian—”

“Hecate, I’ve brought you some lovely prawns from the supper buffet tonight. One more push, and they’re all yours.” It was pure nonsense, of course, to imagine Hecate knew what a prawn was, but he didn’t give a damn how foolish it sounded if it got her to give them one last push.

He waited, his fingers wrapped loosely around the kitten’s torso, one breath, two…then all at once Hecate let out low, guttural yowl, her body stiffened, and she gave one final, mighty push. “Good girl, Hecate!”

He rocked the small body side to side and watched, fascinated as the remainder of the kitten’s torso gave way to the shoulders, then two little curled pink paws, and finally a head, with tiny ears no bigger than his fingernail pressed flat against her head. “I’ve got her, Helena! She’s out!”

“Oh, my goodness, Adrian, I’ve never seen anything like that before!”

“And I’ve never felt anything like it. Well done, Hecate!”

“You’re going to make a wonderful mother, Hecate,” Helena murmured, pressing a kiss on the top of Hecate’s head.

Now that the largest kitten was out—she was indeed a girl, just as he’d predicted—Hecate perked up, and began nosing at the kittens and licking them vigorously.

He watched quietly for a time, then leaned down to wipe his hands on the tails of his coat, as it was ruined anyway.

When he felt Helena’s eyes on him, he looked up with a smile.

“That was not how I imagined this evening would end.”

She laughed. “No. It’s not quite the Sir Roger De Coverley, is it?”

“No. It was far messier, but now it’s over, I can’t think of any better way to usher in Christmas Day, can you?”

She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again with a shake of her head. “There’s something I need to tell you, my lord, and I’ve put it off for far too long—”

“Oh? Is it that your sister is the Countess of Cross? Or is it that you’re one of the infamous matchmaking Templeton sisters that everyone in London is gossiping about?”

She let out a sigh. “I see you’ve met Juliet.”

“Yes.” He gazed at her in the dim light of the stables, studying the curve of her cheekbones, the slight upturn of her nose, the adorably stubborn angle of her chin. How had her face become so inexpressibly dear to him in only a few short weeks? “So many secrets, Helena.”

“I didn’t think you…I never meant to…” She buried her face in her hands. “Oh, dear. I’ve made a dreadful mess of everything, haven’t I?”

“Yes, but no more than I have. It seems neither of us are very good at this.” He caught her wrists and lowered her hands from her face. “Don’t hide from me, Helena. I don’t understand why you didn’t simply tell me, sweetheart.”

She blinked at the endearment, a blush rushing into her cheeks. “At first I didn’t say anything because I thought you’d dismiss me if you knew who I was.”

“Dismiss you? Nonsense. Wherever could you have gotten the idea I’d dismiss you?”

That drew a small smile to her lips. “I can’t imagine. But I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had dismissed me. There aren’t many fathers who want a scandalous governess teaching their sons.”

“They weren’t your scandals, Helena, and even if they had been, it wouldn’t have made any difference. Do you think I don’t know how much you’ve done for Ryan and Etienne? There’s not a father alive who’d dream of letting you go.”

Not a man alive, either.

“I still should have told you the truth at once, but I couldn’t bear the idea of leaving Ryan and Etienne, so I said nothing, and hoped you wouldn’t find out. It was silly of me. Everyone always finds out everything, don’t they?”

“In my experience, yes. But there’s still something you haven’t told me, isn’t there, Helena?” He got to his feet, hopped out of the pen and dropped down into the clean hay beside her, because he needed to be closer to her, to be touching her when he told her he…told her—

“There is, yes. I…this is difficult to say.” She drew in a deep breath, and met his eyes.

“I have to leave Hawke’s Run, Adrian. I took the governess position out of financial necessity, but since then two of my sisters have become countesses, and my eldest sister, Euphemia, is lonely with so many of us gone. ”

“Helena, I—”

“I want you to know that it’s not my choice to leave.” Her voice broke then, and she dragged an arm across her eyes. “Indeed, I’d much rather stay. I adore the boys, and I’m…very fond of everyone else here, as well.”

“Fond?” He eased closer, and caught her chin between his fingers. “Just fond, Helena?”

She blinked up at him, a few tears caught in her dark lashes. “Well, I’m fond of Abby, and Mrs. Norris, yes.”

“Hmm.” He tipped her chin up, his mouth inching closer to hers. “Anyone else?”

She swallowed. “Hecate, of course, and Hestia and Poseidon.”

“Yes?” He brushed his lips over hers, just the lightest caress, then drew back again so he could see into her eyes. “And Artemis, Apollo, Demeter, and Hephaestus? I assume you’re fond of all of them, as well?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“I see.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek, then let his lips wander over her cheekbone to her temple, the wisps of golden-brown hair there tickling his nose. “Is there anyone else here at Hawke’s Run you’re fond of, Helena?”

“Not fond, no, but perhaps…” She gasped as he nipped at her earlobe.

“Perhaps?” He closed his hands around her waist and lifted her onto his lap. “Perhaps there’s someone here you feel more than fondness for? Perhaps someone you might…love?”

She rested her hands on his chest, but a forlorn sigh slipped from her lips. “Yes, but—”

He covered her hands with his, stroking her fingers. “Might that person be me?”

She pressed her face into his chest to hide it. “Yes, but—”

“No, Helena.” He clasped her face in his hands. “Look at me when you tell me you love me.”

Her pulse was fluttering in her throat, her beautiful blue gray-eyes searching his. “I do love you, Adrian, so very much, but—”

He touched his fingers to her lips to quiet her. “There is nothing else that matters but love, and I love you so much, sweetheart, with everything I have, and everything I am.”

“Y—you do?” She peeked up at him from under her eyelashes. “You love me?”

“Yes, you maddening creature, of course, I do. I didn’t think I could ever fall in love again, but you took me by surprise, sweetheart.

Perhaps it was the mistletoe you threw at me, because I’ve been mad for you ever since.

If you leave Hawke’s Run, Helena, you will break my heart into a thousand pieces. ”

“But…but what about Lady Anne?”

“Ah, Lady Anne. Tell me the truth, Helena. Have you been trying to matchmake me with Lady Anne?”

She shrugged, but a guilty flush stained her cheeks. “It might have crossed my mind that the two of you would suit.”

“Lady Anne is my friend, but nothing more than that.” He tweaked one of her curls, a grin rising to his lips. “For sisters who are notorious for matchmaking, you’re rather bad at it, you know.”

She toyed with the folds of his cravat with her eyes still lowered. “What about Lady Pamela Fielding?”

“Lady Pamela Fielding!” He threw back his head in a laugh. “Good Lord, has that bit of gossip made it into my own house?”

“Abby’s sister in London wrote to her about it. She says Lady Pamela is very fashionable and beautiful—”

“I’ve never looked twice at Lady Pamela Fielding, I promise you. There’s not a drop of truth to that rumor.”

“There isn’t?”

“No, love. Not a single drop.”

“Oh, well…that’s good, then, because I’m certain she must be dreadful.”

“She is, indeed.” But the last thing he wanted to talk about when he had Helena in his arms was Lady Pamela.

He dragged a fingertip over her lower lip.

“I can’t let you go, Helena. I want you to stay here with us forever.

I want to marry you, sweetheart. Do you suppose the Templeton family has room for another countess? ”

“I want that too, Adrian, so much, but what about Euphemia?” She let out a shaky breath. “If I stay here, she’ll be all alone once my youngest sister Tilly goes, and I can’t bear for her to be left—”

“Shh. We’ll work something out with Euphemia, I promise it, but until we do, you and the boys and I will all go to Herefordshire together. We can marry there, if you like.”

“You’d leave Hawke’s Run, Adrian?” She slid her arms around his neck, and rested her forehead against his. “Y—you’d do that, for me?”

He cupped her neck and held her close, his lips in her hair. “My dearest Helena, don’t you understand? There isn’t a single thing in the world I wouldn’t do for you.”